Stonehill To Host Northeast-10 Women's Lacrosse Championships For Ninth Straight Season This Weekend, Second Ranked And Top Seeded Skyhawks Square Off With Merrimack In Semi-Final Round Play Saturday
May 3, 2007
Easton, Mass.-- Stonehill College will serve as the host institution for the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Lacrosse Championships for the ninth straight season this weekend, as Head Coach Michael Daly's Skyhawks are the top seed in this year's tournament and will seek their eighth straight title in action at W.B. Mason Stadium.
Stonehill, 16-1 overall and ranked second nationally in this week's IWLCA Division II national poll, will face a familiar foe in Saturday's first conference semi-final that begins at 1:00 p.m. EDT, as the Skyhawks will take on fifth-seeded Merrimack (11-5) for the right to advance to Sunday's championship match. Stonehill has squared off with the Warriors, coached by former Skyhawk four-time All-America Katie Lambert, for the Northeast-10 title in each of the last two seasons and will face Merrimack for the fourth straight campaign in the post-season. Saturday's second semi-final will pit second-seeded and 10th-ranked Southern New Hampshire (10-3) against third-seeded Bentley (10-5) beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT, with the two semi-final winners meeting for the conference crown Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EDT.
Stonehill, which sports an overall mark of 138-25 (.847) during Daly's nine-year tenure, will bring a 12-1 Northeast-10 post-season slate into this weekend's action and has already matched the fourth highest single-season win total in school history to date with 16 triumphs. Junior All-America Kristin Darrell (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) paces the Skyhawks in scoring with 59 goals and 23 assists for 82 points to date, while sophomore Michelle Kelly (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) follows with 51 goals and 26 assists for 77 points. Junior Amanda McGeachey (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) is 16-1 in goal for Stonehill this spring with a 6.30 goals against average, as the Skyhawks rank second nationally in both team offense and defense, scoring 17.06 goals per match while allowing 6.35 per contest.
Merrimack has made post-season appearances in all four seasons under Lambert's tutelage, as the Warriors are led in scoring this spring by junior Amanda Simeone, who has netted 56 goals and 15 assists for 71 points, and sophomore Lauren Leddy, who has chipped win with 40 goals and 21 assists for 61 points. Junior Amanda DiNitto is 8-5 in goal for Merrimack with a 10.32 goals against average, as the Warriors dropped a 20-8 decision to Stonehill in the teams' regular season meeting back on March 27th in North Andover, Mass.
Southern New Hampshire is making its second straight Northeast-10 semi-final appearance under fourth-year Head Coach Mary Squire, as the Penmen earned their first IWLCA national ranking earlier this season and have been in the top 10 in each of the last three weeks. Sophomore Jennifer Parro leads Southern New Hampshire in scoring with 19 goals and 45 assists for 64 points, while fellow sophomore Libby Parent follows with 37 goals and 16 assists for 53 points. Graduate student Lisa McEachern is 10-3 in goal for the Penmen with a 10.28 goals against average to date. Southern New Hampshire is 1-2 against the semi-final field, as the Penmen dropped a 21-9 decision to Stonehill and a 10-8 match-up with Merrimack but notched an 18-15 season-opening triumph over Bentley.
Bentley's aforementioned Falcons are making their first Northeast-10 semi-final appearance since 2003, as first year Head Coach Jess Davos has received plenty of production from the tandem of sophomore Alyssa Ritchie (42 goals, 42 assists) and senior Kellyn Riccitelli (38 goals, 23 assists). Freshman Christina Guglielmo has posted a 10-5 mark with a 11.40 goals against average for Bentley, which dropped a 14-11 decision at Stonehill in its regular season finale this past Monday and began conference play with a 15-13 win over Merrimack back on March 23rd in Waltham, Mass. The Falcons are looking to advance to the championship match for the first time since 2000.
After Saint Michael's claimed the inaugural Northeast-10 tournament crown in 1999, Stonehill has won the last seven league titles, besting Merrimack on three occasions (2001, 2005 & 2006), Bryant twice (2003 & 2004) and both Bentley (2000) and Assumption (2002) once.
For more information on the 2007 Northeast-10 Conference Women's Lacrosse Championships, log-on to www.northeast10.org.
2007 Northeast-10 Conference Women's Lacrosse Championships
Hosted By Stonehill College
W.B. Mason Stadium, Easton, Massachusetts
QUARTERFINALS (Played Wednesday on campus sites)
3 Bentley 20, #6 Saint Michael's 13
5 Merrimack 16, #4 Bryant 9
SEMI-FINALS
Game #1: #5 Merrimack (11-5) at #1 STONEHILL (16-1) 1:00 pm
Game #2: #2 Southern New Hampshire (10-3) vs. #3 Bentley (10-5) 3:30 pm
CHAMPIONSHIP
Game #3: Semi-Final winners 1:00 pm
